In a typical cellular network, such as a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access-Time Division Duplex (UTRA-TDD) network, a Radio Network Controller (RNC) is responsible for the configuration of a set of cells. The configuration of the cells is typically achieved using a standardised protocol, such as the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) Node-B Application Part (NBAP) of the Iub interface. The implementation of the configuration of a cell from its RNC in conventional network architecture is based on a point-to-point connection from the RNC to each individual cell.
As will be appreciated by a skilled artisan, the network resources within a cellular network are limited, and as such any reduction of the signalling message flow and content between network elements is desirable. Furthermore, any reduction in the workload of the processing resources of RNCs, and the amount of time taken to reconfigure cells is also desirable.
Thus, there exists a continual need for improved methods and techniques for providing cell configuration information to network elements.